Lucky Penny
by The Hamartia of it All
Summary: But even as hope seemed lost, even as meditating seemed futile, Raven had held onto that penny. At the time, she'd thought it was silly to hope that it would keep her safe, but perhaps… perhaps on some level, it wasn't about the luck. It was the gesture. - Set before, during, and after "The End." BBRae, hint of RobStar.


_A/N: Hey guys! Episode 3 of Season 6 has been taking me an abnormally long time to complete, so to make up for it, I wrote a very small BBRae oneshot! I love them together so much and it's still disappointing that they never officially got together in the show, but I guess that's the purpose of fanfiction!_

_I was watching "The End - Part 1" and got to the part where the Titans show Raven the emergency room they prepared for her. You know how you don't notice things in your old favourite cartoons as a child until you're older and can appreciate them more? Well, when Beast Boy put the penny in Raven's hand, I immediately fangirled and began to psychoanalyse it. Raven isn't the superstitious type, at least not when it comes to walking under ladders and lucky pennies, but she still held onto it even when she was forced to fulfill the prophecy. The penny dropped from her hand as she became the portal, and to someone like Raven to hold onto that got me thinking and I had to write it into a oneshot._

_Set after the events of "The End - Part 3," focusing on one underappreciated moment in Part 1._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing!_

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_Lucky Penny_

_"For luck," Beast Boy whispered as he pressed the copper penny he'd found earlier that day into her hand. Their hands touched, and for a moment, all Raven wanted to do was pull the shapeshifter into a tight embrace. In the end, she was too scared to do anything but stare at him in bewilderment, too afraid of what was to come when their plan inevitably failed. Then he ran off and left her alone in the quarantine room._

_She opened her palm and gazed at the penny, touched by Beast Boy's small gesture. "All the luck in the world couldn't help us now." The latest state-of-the-art technology, magical symbols, and good luck charms would never keep out Trigon's forces._

But even as hope seemed lost, even as meditating seemed futile, Raven had held onto that penny. At the time, she'd thought it was silly to hope that it would keep her safe, but perhaps… perhaps on some level, it wasn't about the luck. It was the gesture.

Beast Boy believed in luck, this she knew. It wasn't the first time she'd seen her friend get excited over finding a penny with its head facing up on the sidewalk, then chanting "Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck!" He would hold onto them and keep them in his pockets, hoping that its "mojo" would cause something good to happen to him. Four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, "lucky socks" (which had a distinct, pungent odour to them), lucky numbers, etc. (although never a rabbit's foot, he could have one of those anytime he liked)… these were the things that Beast Boy held onto for luck. These were the things he'd attached his hope to on a daily basis.

And he'd passed it onto Raven. Her, of all the Titans. She'd ridiculed him, slapped him, ignored him, pushed him away, and still he selflessly gave his lucky charm to Raven.

Perhaps it wasn't just the hope behind the copper coin. Perhaps, on a level that Raven would never let show, she'd held onto the penny for Beast Boy. When he'd handed it to her, it was still warm from his touch, and their hands had connected briefly as he placed it in her palms. That moment had stirred in her a feeling that terrified her almost as much as Trigon's prophecy.

Because maybe, just maybe, she was seeing Beast Boy as someone who was more than just her annoying, not very funny, green shapeshifting friend. Maybe she was seeing him as someone who cared for her in a deeper kind of way, that his "humour" was a defence-mechanism for something far more profound than he would ever let on… Though Raven found these superstitious customs ridiculous, the unspoken message attached to this "lucky penny" was enough to give her hope and reassure her that she was loved by friends, family, and — possibly — more.

So she held onto it while she waited for Trigon. She rubbed it between her fingers while her friends fought the fire demons and Slade, and squeezed it in her fist when she made the decision to fulfill the prophecy if only to spare her family. And when the time came to open the portal to summon Trigon to Earth, she'd still clutched the penny in her hand, hoping that she was having a nightmare and would wake up soon.

But the spell was cast, and the power of the magic flowing through her forced her to spread her limbs and fingers open, and to her disappointment she felt the penny slide out of her open palms. And in the moments before she was destroyed and reincarnated, all she could feel was love. Whether it was for the friends she'd come to love as family or for the possible feelings she had developed for Beast Boy, she couldn't tell, but it was that love that had brought her back to her senses and willed her to defeat Trigon the Terrible once and for all.

Raven never did find that same penny again. The abandoned city library that had served as a temple to Trigon and the scene of his summoning had finally been demolished, along with the rest of the city block that surrounded it, and she never had the chance to recover that penny.

'There will be other pennies,' she'd told herself, embarrassed of her own feelings and thoughts. 'Why is that one penny so important?'

In her heart, she knew the reason. And as an empath, she could feel it coming from Beast Boy whenever he was near her. She could feel it in herself too, even though she hid that side of her in her mirror.

The day after Raven had restored life to Earth, the Titans had decided to celebrate by revisiting the park and having a picnic in honour of their friend's bravery, perseverance, and hope. Starfire had offered to meditate with Raven while the boys dealt with the barbecue, and Raven didn't hesitate to agree. She'd always liked meditating with the alien princess anyway, even if she could get a little impatient and fidgety.

Everything had gone on as normal: Beast Boy and Cyborg argued about the lack of delicious vegetarian substitutes that Cyborg had provided, Robin listened intently to one of Starfire's Tamaranean legends (which Raven knew bored the Teen Wonder to death and that he simply loved listening to the girl speak, as well as knowing that he enjoyed looking at her), and Raven sat quietly observing her friends. There was nothing she wouldn't do for them, and she never wanted to lose them again.

But it was what Raven had done after the picnic and the stankball game — which she'd refereed from the shade — that shocked the Teen Titans and even Raven herself.

They were walking on the sidewalk on the way back to the T-Car in order to go home. Cyborg walked next to Starfire and Robin, all debating some sort of theoretical physics, and somehow, the half-robot seemed to be the third wheel. Raven walked next to Beast Boy, nodding absentmindedly as he told a funny story about vegetarians. Something shiny on the ground caught her attention as it sparkled with the setting sun, and Raven found herself stopping abruptly to stare at it.

"Rae? You okay?" Beast Boy asked cautiously, fearing déjà vu. The other three Titans paused and regarded her carefully, not daring to take their eyes away from her. Another meltdown? Was Trigon returning? What was happening?

Raven ignored them and bent down to pick up the penny, relieved to find its head facing up. She turned to Beast Boy with a small but genuine smile on her face, took his hands, and placed the penny in his palm.

"For luck," she said, and instantly, Beast Boy's face lit up with a knowing smile. "I lost your last one." Her face was heating up, but she couldn't stop smiling.

Beast Boy dug around in his many pockets until he found what he was looking for. He held it up for Raven to see, and to her astonishment, it was another penny. But, using her powers, she sensed that it was the same penny she'd lost. "I went back to the library to find it for you before they tore it down," he said, rubbing his neck with his free hand. "Just in case you needed it again." He placed it in her hand and let his hold on them linger for a second too long.

"I guess we're even."

"I guess we are."

Starfire turned to Cyborg and Robin curiously. "Please explain, is this some sort of Earth custom that I am unfamiliar with?"

Cyborg shrugged, but smiled amusedly. Robin took Starfire's hand and squeezed it, then regarded the empath and the shapeshifter with a knowing smile. Only a few weeks before the End of the World, he and the alien princess were in a similar situation, albeit on an alien planet.

"I think they're just finally coming to terms with their… _friendship,"_ he replied, smiling at Starfire, who returned the expression.

A mischievous grin spread on the half-robot's face. Then, taking a deep breath, he screamed, "LAST ONE TO THE T-CAR HAS TO WASH THE STANK-BALL!" He bolted towards the parked T-Car and purposely ran between Raven and Beast Boy, laughing hysterically. Still holding Robin's hand, Starfire flew past the two, with Robin dangling behind her screaming.

Raven rolled her eyes and quickly slid the penny into her sleeve. "There is no way I'm washing that thing."

Beast Boy grinned back at her deviously. "That's too bad, because you're gonna have to after I beat ya!" He morphed into a jackrabbit and ran off after the other Titans.

The empath smirked, rubbing the penny inside her sleeve before conjuring up a portal to her seat in the T-Car. "All the luck in the world couldn't help you now."

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_Episode 3 of Teen Titans - Season Six will be up as soon as possible, I apologize for the delay! For some reason, I've been able to write episodes 4-6 but I can't write episode 3… I hope this little oneshot makes up for it! If you spot any grammatical/spelling errors, that's just me being too tired to realize what I was doing…_

_R & R, no flames please!_

_Maribel ∞_


End file.
